About a month ago, DailyTech first brought you a glimpse at Ford's
Edge HySeries crossover utility vehicle (CUV). In its current form, the concept
features a hydrogen fuel cell, a 336-volt lithium-ion battery pack and electric
motors for propulsion. Ford can also adapt the chassis to accommodate
gasoline-electric or diesel-electric hybrid powertrains.

The Edge HySeries’ powertrain is mounted low in the chassis
for better weight distribution. One electric motor is located at each axle
while the fuel cell and batteries are located under the driver and passenger
seat respectively. The 350-bar hydrogen fuel tank is mounted along the
vehicle's centerline under the center console.

Since Edmunds was
given the keys to a prototype vehicle, performance wasn't quite up to
production levels. The vehicle was admittedly running at 50% of its potential,
so acceleration was a bit on the slow side compared to its gasoline-engined
counterpart – the additional 870 pounds of heft doesn’t help either. On the
other hand, the vehicle was nearly silent under acceleration with just the hum
of the fuel cell compressor penetrating the cabin.

With a fully topped off battery and a full hydrogen tank,
the HySeries should offer a driving range of 225 miles and a combined
city/highway rating of 41MPG. This is quite
favorable to the newly revised 2008 EPA ratings for some of the most
popular hybrid automobiles on the North American market. The Prius, Camry Hybrid
and Civic Hybrid are rated at 46MPG, 34MPG and 42MPG combined respectively
under the new EPA guidelines.

Actually, DON'T make the vehicle exotic. Make it like what everyone will be driving. Why? Because as an average consumer I don't care that the titanium composite carbon fiber blah blah blah super expensive mofo gets xyz MPG. I care about whether what I will buy will have decent rates.

^that.

The only reason i'm looking forward to this fuel cell malarky is because it'll make motoring cheaper, which it obviously wont do for a while. I think the environmental benefits are secondary to that, personally anyway.